Recap:
Seventeen Pony 14U teams from all over Mexico recently came together to battle it out on the baseball field in the city of Juarez, Chihuahua to determine the Zone’s national champion. After eight days of competitive play, one team stood victoriously thanks to the heroics of one batter in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Bobcats of Guasave began their quest toward their second Pony Mexico Zone championship in the last six years with a 6-1 loss to Villahermosa. The loss woke the Bobcats up, as they went on to win their next four pool play games against Minatitlan (5-0), Sonora (14-1), Maya (3-1) and Tijuana (6-5), respectively.
Finishing pool play in second place in the division behind Villahermosa, Guasave opened Thursday’s knockout round with a convincing 15-2 victory over Culiacan. In the semifinals, Guasave upended Muralla 7-3, after Muralla had only allowed seven runs in five games.
In the Championship Game, the Bobcats met up with a familiar foe, Villahermosa, who, like Guasave, was coming off an impressive knockout round 14-0 victory over Unison before winning a close one versus Tijuana 7-4.
The game was truly a pitcher’s duel, as both teams were scoreless heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. But with nobody on base, pitcher Vidal Sotelo Rivera crushed a homerun to deep left centerfield to give Guasave the win 1-0. Sotelo was named the tournament’s Batting Champion, after posting a .667 batting average and a 1.467 slugging percentage.
Watch the video of Sotelo’s home run and highlights from the Championship Game below:
As the champions and representatives from PONY’s Mexico Zone, Guasave has received an automatic bid to the 2017 DICK’S Sporting Goods Pony League World Series, August 11-16, in Washington, Pennsylvania. Guasave’s first and only appearance in the Pony League World Series was in 2012.
Scores:
Saturday, April 15, 2017
|
LIGA VILLAHERMOSA
|
6
|
VS
|
1
|
LIGA LINCES
|
|
LIGA MAYA
|
3
|
VS
|
19
|
LIGA TIJUANA MPAL.
|
|
LIGA SONORA
|
2
|
VS
|
15
|
LIGA MINATITLAN
|
|
LIGA GREGORIO R.
|
8
|
VS
|
2
|
LIGA JOSE I. RAMOS
|
|
LIGA LA SALLE
|
7
|
VS
|
0
|
LIGA CENTAUROS
|
|
LIGA UNISON
|
6
|
VS
|
5
|
LIGA UNIDA
|
|
LIGA TALENTOS
|
0
|
VS
|
11
|
LIGA MURALLA
|
|
LIGA CULIACAN A.C.
|
13
|
VS
|
0
|
LIGA SINALOA
|
Sunday, April 16, 2017
|
LIGA TIJUANA MPAL
|
7
|
VS
|
0
|
LIGA SONORA
|
|
LIGA MINATITLAN
|
0
|
VS
|
5
|
LIGA LINCES
|
|
LIGA MAYA
|
3
|
VS
|
5
|
LIGA VILLAHERMOSA
|
|
LIGA CENTAUROS
|
0
|
VS
|
7
|
LIGA UNISON
|
|
LIGA UNIDA
|
16
|
VS
|
2
|
LIGA JOSE I. RAMOS
|
|
LIGA LA SALLE
|
7
|
VS
|
12
|
LIGA GREGORIO R.
|
|
LIGA SINALOA
|
3
|
VS
|
16
|
LIGA TARAHUMARA
|
|
LIGA CULIACAN A.C.
|
9
|
VS
|
5
|
LIGA TALENTOS
|
Monday, April 17, 2017
|
LIGA MAYA
|
9
|
VS
|
12
|
LIGA MINATITLAN
|
|
LIGA LINCES
|
14
|
VS
|
1
|
LIGA SONORA
|
|
LIGA TIJUANA MPAL.
|
3
|
VS
|
8
|
LIGA VILLAHERMOSA
|
|
LIGA LA SALLE
|
9
|
VS
|
3
|
LIGA UNIDA
|
|
LIGA JOSE I. RAMOS
|
1
|
VS
|
7
|
LIGA UNISON
|
|
LIGA CENTAUROS
|
0
|
VS
|
7
|
LIGA GREGORIO R.
|
|
LIGA MURALLA
|
5
|
VS
|
0
|
LIGA TARAHUMARA
|
|
LIGA SINALOA
|
5
|
VS
|
1
|
LIGA TALENTOS
|
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
|
LIGA LINCES
|
3
|
VS
|
1
|
LIGA MAYA
|
|
LIGA MINATITLAN
|
4
|
VS
|
6
|
LIGA TIJUANA MPAL.
|
|
LIGA SONORA
|
1
|
VS
|
17
|
LIGA VILLAHERMOSA
|
|
LIGA JOSE I. RAMOS
|
3
|
VS
|
2
|
LIGA LA SALLE
|
|
LIGA UNIDA
|
7
|
VS
|
0
|
LIGA CENTAUROS
|
|
LIGA UNISON
|
8
|
VS
|
11
|
LIGA GREGORIO R.
|
|
LIGA MURALLA
|
7
|
VS
|
0
|
LIGA CULIACAN A.C.
|
|
LIGA TARAHUMARA
|
12
|
VS
|
8
|
LIGA TALENTOS
|
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
|
LIGA TIJUANA MPAL
|
5
|
VS
|
6
|
LIGA LINCES
|
|
LIGA SONORA
|
5
|
VS
|
20
|
LIGA MAYA
|
|
LIGA VILLAHERMOSA
|
12
|
VS
|
0
|
LIGA MINATITLAN
|
|
LIGA CENTAUROS
|
0
|
VS
|
7
|
LIGA JOSE I. RAMOS
|
|
LIGA UNISON
|
3
|
VS
|
5
|
LIGA LA SALLE
|
|
LIGA GREGORIO R.
|
3
|
VS
|
1
|
LIGA UNIDA
|
|
LIGA SINALOA
|
2
|
VS
|
3
|
LIGA MURALLA
|
|
LIGA TARAHUMARA
|
3
|
VS
|
4
|
LIGA CULIACAN A.C.
|
Standings following pool play:
|
VILLAHERMOSA Group
|
|
Teams
|
G
|
W
|
L
|
RS
|
RA
|
|
|
1.-
|
LIGA VILLAHERMOSA
|
4
|
4
|
0
|
36
|
7
|
|
|
2.-
|
LIGA LINCES
|
5
|
4
|
1
|
29
|
13
|
|
|
3.-
|
LIGA TIJUANA MUNICIPAL
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
40
|
21
|
19
|
|
4.-
|
LIGA MINATITLAN
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
31
|
22
|
|
|
5.-
|
LIGA SONORA
|
5
|
1
|
4
|
4
|
53
|
|
|
6.-
|
LIGA MAYA
|
5
|
0
|
5
|
16
|
39
|
|
|
TALENTOS Group
|
|
Teams
|
G
|
W
|
L
|
RS
|
RA
|
|
|
1.-
|
LIGA MURALLA
|
4
|
4
|
0
|
26
|
2
|
|
|
2.-
|
LIGA CULIACAN
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
26
|
15
|
|
|
3.-
|
LIGA TARAHUMARA
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
31
|
20
|
|
|
4.-
|
LIGA SINALOA MUNICIPAL
|
4
|
1
|
3
|
10
|
33
|
|
|
5.-
|
LIGA TALENTOS
|
4
|
0
|
4
|
14
|
33
|
|
|
GREGORIO RENTERIA Group
|
|
Teams
|
G
|
W
|
L
|
RS
|
RA
|
|
|
1.-
|
LIGA GREGORIO RENTERIA
|
4
|
4
|
0
|
38
|
17
|
|
|
2.-
|
LIGA LA SALLE
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
30
|
21
|
|
|
3.-
|
LIGA UNISON
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
31
|
22
|
9
|
|
4.-
|
LIGA SALTILLO
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
31
|
17
|
|
|
5.-
|
LIGA JOSE ISABEL RAMOS
|
5
|
2
|
3
|
15
|
33
|
|
|
6.-
|
LIGA CENTAUROS
|
5
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
35
|
|
Knockout Stage:
Thursday, April 20, 2017
|
LIGA VILLAHERMOSA
|
14
|
VS
|
0
|
LIGA UNISON
|
|
LIGA GREGORIO R.
|
2
|
VS
|
6
|
LIGA TIJUANA MPAL.
|
|
LIGA MURALLA
|
6
|
VS
|
5
|
LIGA LA SALLE
|
|
LIGA LINCES
|
15
|
VS
|
2
|
LIGA CULIACAN A.C.
|
Semifinal:
Friday, April 21, 2017
|
LIGA VILLAHERMOSA
|
7
|
VS
|
4
|
LIGA TIJUANA MPAL.
|
|
LIGA MURALLA
|
3
|
VS
|
7
|
LIGA LINCES
|
Final:
Saturday, April 22, 2017
|
FINAL
|
LIGA VILLAHERMOSA
|
0
|
VS
|
1
|
LIGA LINCES
|
|
3ER LUGAR
|
LIGA MURALLA
|
3
|
VS
|
2
|
LIGA TIJUANA MPAL.
|
Final Standings:
- Linces Guasave
- Villahermosa
- Tijuana
- Muralla
Individual Award Winners:
Batting Champion
Name Team Batting Average Slugging Percentage
VIDAL SOTELO RIVERA LINCES DE GUASAVE .667 1.467
Most Home Runs
JOSUE EMMANUEL GOMEZ FLORES VILLAHERMOSA 4
Most RBI
JOSUE EMMANUEL GOMEZ FLORES VILLAHERMOSA 9
Best Pitching Record
JOSEP YAHIR PEINADO RODRIGUEZ MURALLA 2-0
ERA Award Winner
JOSEP YAHIR PEINADO RODRIGUEZ MURALLA ERA. 0.00
Sportsmanship Award Winner
ANGEL MEDINA MARQUEZ TIJUANA MUNICIPAL
Photos:
